Chief instructs employees not to concern themselves with "noises" from the media

"Do not be influenced by noises from the market and the industry. We are a strong player in the market and we are just having short-term challenges," Peter Chou writes in a memo to his employees, obtained byThe Wall Street Journal, "Please make sure that we kill bureaucracy. Make sure [that] we are doing the right thing quick and make it work."

I. Down, But Not Out

Peter Chou has been involved with HTC Corp. (TPE:2498) since its earliest days, when it was founded in Taiwan as largely a company that high-profile foreign firms like Hewlett-Packard Comp. (HPQ) contracted to produce their designs. Mr. Chou was there for HTC's meteoric rise in 2009, as the firm became a household name with its self-branded Android smartphones. And he has been there as that growth has stalled, leading many analysts to issue dire warnings.

Mr. Chou writes, "HTC used to be a company where we did things quick and reacted quick. However, the fast growth from the last 2 years has slowed us down. We agreed to do something, but we either didn't do it, or executed it loosely."

HTC CEO Peter Chou rallied his troops in an email telling them it's not to late to come back from the cliff. [Image Source: Android and Me]

HTC's losses late last year have been turned into profits early this year, and HTC's new phone lineup like the One S and One X have drawn generally positive reviews. But the company's recovery has fallen short of analyst predictions, leading to more concern.

II. The Plan Ahead

Struggling in Europe, South America, and much of Asia, HTC is looking to focus on the Chinese market -- a market currently dominated by Samsung, but one in which HTC has gained ground over the last year.

America is still critical to business for HTC, though, which in 2011 briefly topped U.S. smartphone sales charts. Mr. Chou's memo was in English, as are most of his emails to employees -- a practice that's considered unusual by Taiwanese business standards, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Some believe HTC is at risk of a takeover bid, having grown too fast and then stumbled. But despite seeing its global market share fall in half since last year, and by 50 percent since the start of this year, Mr. Chou is determined that an independent HTC will be back with a vengeance.

While talk and action are separate creatures, it's nice to at least see a chief executive of a struggling firm both acknowledging the reality of their situation, while also pushing employees to work harder to turn things around. That approach is quite different from the incompetent management of certain other phonemakers like Research in Motion, Ltd. (TSE:RIM) whose leadership have preached thatnothing is wrong amid the collapse of their business. Acceptance of reality is the first step to recovery, and HTC's CEO is giving his employees a dose of that reality, while pushing them in a positive direction.